McCain calls for more nukes

Concord Monitor ^ | 5-23-06 | By ERIC MOSKOWITZ

[meandog]

The United States needs to overcome its fear of nuclear power and embrace the technology as a way to wean itself from fossil fuels, Sen. John McCain told an audience in Manchester yesterday.

Nuclear power "is safe. The technology is here," McCain said, speaking to a crowd of about 200 at a breakfast hosted by The New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women. "It's a NIMBY (not in my backyard) problem, and a waste-disposal problem. It is not a technological problem."

McCain pointed to France, which draws more than three-quarters of its power from nuclear plants, and Russia, which has plans to build 40 new plants, as examples. "We've got to get over it, get over Three Mile Island," he said, referring to the 1979 accident at a Pennsylvania nuclear power plant.

McCain, a potential presidential candidate in 2008, touched upon a range of subjects during a nearly hour-long address and question-and-answer session, including his displeasure with Google's decision to submit to censorship in China.

[rintense]

I thought it was great! The Logan's made this season of 24 one of the best.

[Hildy]

I know, but it was so ridiculous. HOW did Martha know that Logan had the recording device on his body? It seemed she found out Jack couldn't get the confession at the same time Mike Novack did. It made no sense.

[Adder]

Thanks

[Mr. Mojo]

I wasn't aware McCain was pro-abortion.

He's done quite a bit of flip-flopping on the issue, so God only knows where he stands now.

But he's definitely anti-2nd Amendment (receiving an F- grade from GOA), anti-1st Amendment (McCain-Feingold), and a fan of big gov't in general.

[rintense]

Two thoughts: She may not have know, and just flipped out anyway. She knew Jack had failed so she lost it. Second, Jack always has a back up plan. I'm sure he knew he probably couldn't kill Logan, so he brought the pen with a listening device, and then did the ol' switcheroo on Logan during the confession scene. Now I can't recall the exact trail of said pen (I wonder if Novick gave it to him?), but het, it's 24! And with Jack on the slow boat to China, we have no idea if he really had any part in it at all.

Logan got the upper hand though by giving Jack to the Chinese.

[newguy357]

Engineers are already confident of "breeder reactors" for energy and are closing in on fusion technology--where there will be minute/zero amounts of nuke waste.

Haha...closing in on fusion technology? I'm afraid not. I was at a seminar a couple years ago where this was discussed. Unfortunately, a fusion reactor was said to be 50 years away as of 50 years ago, and it's still said to be 50 years away as of today.

[Freeport]

Hillary... Now I have to disifect my keyboard....

[ncountylee]

A rare moment of sanity won't change McCain's spots.

[meandog]

Haha...closing in on fusion technology? I'm afraid not. I was at a seminar a couple years ago where this was discussed. Unfortunately, a fusion reactor was said to be 50 years away as of 50 years ago, and it's still said to be 50 years away as of today

Fusion reactor is theoretically possible...the challenge is to hold a core with a temperature equal to that of the sun in check. Science believes that it can be done with high tech magnets, used to hold the pile stable, and where a thermatic barrier would be introduced to keep it cool. The snag is, how to tap this heat for energy generation. In a current nuke plant, a heat generator is used between the primary and secondary loops meet--the highly radio-active primary loop of super heated steam gives off only heat to the secondary loop, which goes on to power turbines and generate electricity before going on to cooling towers to be condensed back into water. The problem presented with fusion reactors, in a nutshell, is how to get a secondary loop into the magnetized field without breaking the barrier.

[FrogBurger]

France, the nation we FReepers spoof most frequently as the kookiest of liberal democracies, operates nearly 80 percent its electrical grid by fueling it with nuclear power.

Make that 82%, mon ami. And France is building more. Oh, and for a modest fee, they'd take your spent nuclear combustible, extract the plutonium, vitrify the waste, and sell you the inert U238 for making antitank ammunition and competition sailboat ballast (which are, apparently, the two largest markets for depleted uranium).

The beauty of the French system is that nuclear power plants are exactly identical. They are build from one set of blueprints. Only one certification was needed.

If US policy makers had half a brain, they license the technology (which is a Westinghouse design bought by the French!) including the waste processing, and they'd stop whining about energy.

[newguy357]

I agree the fusion reactor is theoretically possible--the sun does it every day. The problem has always been one of engineering, not theory. That problem has not gone away, and is still a long way from being worked through to functioning, sustained, useable fusion reactors. It's easy to theoretically describe the necessary magnetic fields. Generating them, just the right shape, is the problem.